On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), Dr. Rolf-Dieter Jungk, visited the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig. Led by HZI Directors Prof. Josef Penninger and Christian Scherf, as well as Prof. Theresia Stradal, spokesperson for the HZI campus in Braunschweig, he gained a comprehensive insight into the center’s cutting-edge research. The visit focused on the junior research research groups of the BMFTR-funded MICROSTAR program as well as the HZI’s organoid platform.

Joint pain, skin changes, extreme fatigue – and often no clear diagnosis for years: collagen diseases can present in a wide variety of ways and place a significant burden on those affected. In these rare inflammatory rheumatic conditions, the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, particularly the connective tissue. As virtually any organ can be affected, collagen diseases can, in the worst-case scenario, become life-threatening. A project by Hannover Medical School (MHH), TWINCORE – Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is now developing more accurate diagnoses for better treatments of collagen diseases.

A recent study from Hannover provides important insights into the understanding and future treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Researchers from the Hannover Medical School (MHH), the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), TWINCORE and the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) have demonstrated that a previously little-noticed group of immune cells – so-called γδ T cells – plays a central role in controlling the viral infection. The study was published in the journal Gut. TWINCORE and CiiM are joint institutions of the HZI and the MHH.